DeVery Bess

Artist

DeVery Bess (he/they) is a Toronto-based performance artist, producer, and community organizer who believes joy is a survival strategy and connection is the point. Working at the intersection of drag, immersive theater, and digital culture, DeVery creates experiences that ask: How do marginalized people protect themselves while still taking up space? How do we build community when our existence is constantly surveilled and policed?

As a Black trans artist navigating rapidly shifting policies and attitudes, DeVery’s practice investigates the impacts of self in community, whether that looks like activism, friendship, or learning to disappear when you need to. From performing at Burlesque Hall of Fame Online to curating QTBIPOC programming for Calgary Pride, their work spans international stages while staying rooted in local care. They founded Queer Nerd Collective, centering gaming culture within queer spaces, and have mentored emerging artists through Gwaandak Theatre and Black Kid Joy.

DeVery’s artistic methodology embraces multiplicity and resists exceptionalism, creating space for experimentation and the messy process of becoming. Whether producing sold-out drag shows, designing immersive experiences around anonymity and power, or hosting a room full of nerds, DeVery builds worlds where marginalized folks explore safety and pleasure on their own terms. Community isn’t just the subject of the work, it’s the structure, the process, and the reason.